I am assuming that this is a shot off your web cam and that this is actually a right-handed instrument, correct? Welcome aboard to the Loyal Order of the Bowl.
I am assuming that this is a shot off your web cam and that this is actually a right-handed instrument, correct? Welcome aboard to the Loyal Order of the Bowl.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
Hi Jim, thanks for your comment. Yes it is a right handed mandolin; I didn't realise that it would come out that way (obvious really). So I'm now in the Loyal Order of the Bowl? - great! I got the mandolin off Ebay here in England and from my research on here and other sites, I expected it to fetch a higher price, so was very pleased. One small niggle though, and wonder if anyone can help? I changed the strings to Ultra Light GHS as recommended for older,Bowlback mandos, and now when i fret the G string at the 7th fret it is way too sharp. The 12th fret is ok and so are the other strings, also the open strings are all fine. Is this the nut, perhaps? I've tried moving the bridge but that sends everything out! Any ideas anyone? Thanks again, I still love the thing anyhow!
Robert
England
Hi all, has anyone any tips on how to correct this intonation/nut problem, it's bugging me now. Any suggestions pleeeez??
Thanking you in anticipation
Robert.
Still in England
It could be the nut, or it could be that one of the frets is too tall or too short.
I saw a Carmelo Catania bowlback in an estate sale not long ago, but it was tourist grade ... appeared to be pretty cheaply made, and had a neck problem. So I passed it up. I hope I didn't throw away $1,000.
Emando.com: More than you wanted to know about electric mandolins.
Notorious: My Celtic CD--listen & buy!
Lyon & Healy • Wood • Thormahlen • Andersen • Bacorn • Yanuziello • Fender • National • Gibson • Franke • Fuchs • Aceto • Three Hungry Pit Bulls
Yeah, but does your 1921 label say "founded in 1936" anywhere?
I checked and the link I posted earlier in this thread about the history of the company does not work any more. Here is the updated Fetish Guitars link.
Here is the rather lame translation via Google Translate. Maybe someone else can do better:
If he was born in 1908, then he returned to Catania in 1928. If he built that mandolin in 1921, then he was only 13 years old. Hmmmmm...At 20 he returned to Catania and begins to work on their own, although at the beginning for others, and builds a second and more elaborate harp guitar which image will use as a trademark of his company.
In 1936 he recorded his company to the Chamber of Commerce of Catania and get to see with their own name.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
Welcome to the Cafe, J.C. I wonder if your 1921 mandolin was built in Catania the town, but not by Carmelo Catania the manufacturer. Can you post photos?
Ah, Bruce, that would explain a lot!!
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
Here is a picture of the label:
I could be mistaken, but it looks like 8 4(11?) 1921
Mighty hard to make out the date from that photo. But the label itself doesn't look like an old one. And I see in this other thread a similar label with a similar serial no. pretty clearly dated 1971. So it's probably a matter of handwriting style.
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...hlight=carmelo
I'll try to upload a better picture. If it's indeed 1971, it's the worst writing of a 7 in the world.
My parents are from a town near Catania. Back around 1980 I brought back a Carmelo Catania mandoloncello. I had a luthier put Grover machines on it and helped me tune it to an octave mandolin, using very light strings. It was a blast, especially for playing Medieval and Renaissance tunes. I just dusted it off several months ago, after many years of neglect. Perhaps because it didn’t have to sustain the full tension of a mandoloncello, it was in very good condition, and the intonation is still near perfect. I put on a set mandolin strings (Martin, if I recall), which were long enough, and at that length, they tuned comfortably into mandola tuning (C, G, D, A). Because of the looseness of the strings, I can even fingerpick it like a lute. (If I’m not mistaken, it’s believed that early lute technique used more pad than nail. If I’m wrong, don’t let me know, so I can go on believing I’m playing it like a medieval lute.) In any case, it has a big sound with lots of resonance and is loads of fun.
Whatever works. Personally, I'd be more interested in it as a mandocello.
Emando.com: More than you wanted to know about electric mandolins.
Notorious: My Celtic CD--listen & buy!
Lyon & Healy • Wood • Thormahlen • Andersen • Bacorn • Yanuziello • Fender • National • Gibson • Franke • Fuchs • Aceto • Three Hungry Pit Bulls
Ever tried, ever failed? No matter. Try again, fail again. Fail better.--Samuel Beckett
______________________
'05 Cuisinart Toaster
'93 Chuck Taylor lowtops
'12 Stetson Open Road
'06 Bialetti expresso maker
'14 Irish Linen Ramon Puig
My parents are from Belpasso, on the volcano Etna. Since I’m technologically challenged, it might take me a little while to get a picture on here. This conversation has renewed my interest in my Carmelo Catanias, and I dug up the CC mandolin that I own as well. I’ll work on getting a picture of the Mandoloncello up.
Here are some pics of my Carmelo Catania mandoloncello, with Grover guitar tuners.
Thanks, Antonio, for the pictures. That is a nice looking m'cello. I can't imagine how one would hold something like this. Must sound great as an octave. Did you get it from a shop or from a private owner?
BTW, we're watching Visconti's "La Terra Trema" this evening which was filmed (as I'm sure you know) in Aci Trezza, not too far from Belpasso (or Catania). We're only a half-hour into the film so far, but it is pretty great. Some nice songs in it I'd love to learn....
Mick
BTW I have a mandola (or maybe it is a short octave) from Puglisi Reale. Curiously enough, it has a carved back in the Gibson style with a typical canted top. It was a wreck when I got it and I'm still working to iron out all the fret issues. It does sound good though.
Ever tried, ever failed? No matter. Try again, fail again. Fail better.--Samuel Beckett
______________________
'05 Cuisinart Toaster
'93 Chuck Taylor lowtops
'12 Stetson Open Road
'06 Bialetti expresso maker
'14 Irish Linen Ramon Puig
Thanks. I told you I am tech-challenged, and I figured out how to get the photos right-side-up after the fact! The thing is big enough to hold pretty much like an acoustic guitar, sitting with legs crossed. I bought this instrument directly from the Carmelo Catania shop. I’m sure it all started way back with a Geppetto-like craftsman named Carmelo. But when I went there around 1980, it was a fairly large operation. I remember that they were proud of the fact that some of their bouzoukis were bought by Greeks.
La Terra Trema is a classic film of neorealism. Visconti had the non-professional actors (real fishermen) speak Sicilian dialect, and so it was released in Italy with Italian subtitles. I believe it was Aci Trezza — where the novel that inspired the film, I Malavoglia (House by the Medlar Tree) by Giovanni Verga is located.
The mandola used to have two possible tuning: C and G, the latter being like an octave mandolin. (I don’t think many American players are aware of this.)
Yes, Antonio, the pictures are good. An interesting story that you bought the mandocello straight from the CC shop. Is the company still in business? Do you remember where they were located?
Actually, there has been a lot of discussion around here of the C vs G tunings and the different uses of the term 'mandola' between the US and Europe. I know there are advocates for all the various naming conventions but C (mandola) and G (octave) make the most sense to me now, despite the presumed histories of the names themselves.
We thought the movie was pretty good, particularly the cinematography. My wife and I speak Italian pretty well (she better than I) but couldn't follow much other than the voice-over. Good thing for subtitles. I read that Visconti had a trio of 'work' related films in mind and that La Terra Trema was the only one that was filmed. I've got I Malavoglia on my summer reading list.
Mick
Ever tried, ever failed? No matter. Try again, fail again. Fail better.--Samuel Beckett
______________________
'05 Cuisinart Toaster
'93 Chuck Taylor lowtops
'12 Stetson Open Road
'06 Bialetti expresso maker
'14 Irish Linen Ramon Puig
Location of C. Catania shop: It was a long time ago, and I was driven there a few times from Belpasso. The tag says Mascalucia, so it must have been there (probably can Google it). I remember that my former Science professor liked the mandoloncello so much that he ordered one from them and they shipped it to him. But I'm not sure if the shop still exists.
As you know, I'm new to Mandolin Cafe, so I missed out on the C&G mandola discussion.
On researching, in the age of mass communication, I was excited to discover this discussion concerning Carmelo Catania instruments and would like to show my mandola off. An American girl, upon hearing me fooling around on a guitar in the 1970s, suggested that I try the mandolin. I did but thought that the lower octave mandola would be more suited to my stumpy fingers. On a trip to Rome mid-seventies this beauty gave me no option but to purchase it. A case maker in Bologna was recommended and I stopped there on the way home to order one. For years I attempted to play but when it decided that I was not, my hero at that time, Andy Irvine or even a competent musician, it took to the case in a huff. There it has remained languishing for decades. Every once in a while I’d inspect it, admire and wonder what would become of it especially now that I am old! I have tried unsuccessfully to give it away, considered selling it or donating it to a mandolin orchestra but it still refuses to go!
Very interesting, that mandola is in excellent shape which makes a lot of sense according to your story. It is also interesting that it was made with that Dave Apollon-style missing high fret. He used to pull the high fret on his mandolins so he could cleanly play that note way up on the fretboard.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
I got one recently
https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/66055255
Here I am playing something on it.
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